Anna Rasche’s historical fiction sparkles with authenticity.
Before she was an author, Rasche spent much of the 2010s toiling in Manhattan’s Diamond District, where her new novel, “The Cursed Diamond” (Park Row, out now), is set. The book owes a substantial debt to the gritty slice of Midtown and her years working there — setting up displays of shimmering baubles, delivering precious trinkets to artisans to repair and burnish, and even looking out for peddlers trying to sell her shop fake goods.
“That was maybe a monthly occurrence,” the 38-year-old said, recalling the hustlers, scammers and (sadly) innocent rubes who would walk up to her counter with an ersatz ruby or questionable heirloom to pawn. “Those were still the days when people would walk around with all the bootleg DVDs and Gucci belts to sell,” she added, setting the scene. “But you would just say, ‘Sorry, not for us,’ and they would go on their way.”
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